The research, which surveyed 370 HR and benefits managers, found that 62% of employers that have auto-enrolled staff began planning 18 months or more ahead of their staging date, compared with 31% of organisations that have yet to auto-enrol their employees. (This does not include respondents that do not know).

Among employers that have auto-enrolled their workforce, the most common time to begin planning for compliance was 18 months before their staging date. Two-fifths (40%) of employers said they started planning at this stage.

This was followed by a year before their staging date (31%) and more than two years before (22%).

However, the most common time to begin planning among those that have yet to auto-enrol staff is a year from their staging date (cited by 44% of respondents). This was followed by those beginning six months ahead of their staging date and 18 months before – 20% said this was the case for each timescale.